18/12: Arrival in Barcelona
After a morning of eventless traveling, we finally arrived at Barcelona about 20 minutes ahead of the flight schedule. That’s a first! Anyway, it took us quite a while to get our bearings right and locate our destination in Central Barcelona. While other Londoners are suffering from the sub-zero cold wave that’s hitting London, we were treated to a warm and sunny Spanish coastal weather!
First stop was to get lunch of course, having not eaten since the night before. We managed to locate this Spanish restaurant run by Chinese, hence Marvin dropped off his ‘chat chat’ Spanish, and we chatted with the lady boss in Mandarin. The food which we ordered came in grossly huge proportions though, and by the end of the meal, we wee positively bloated.
Further down the street, (and I mean really far down), is the La Sanrada Famila, which was a giangantic Gortic church which began construction in 1882, and it has never gotten to finishing. 8 out of 18 towers have been completed so far. Of these, 12 of the towers represent the 12 apostles, 4 towers to represent the evangelists and a taller tower for Virgin Mary, and an even taller one at a height of 170m to symbolize Jesus Christ.
We climbed the tower of course, to try to get a view of the cityscape of
Barcelona. By the end of the little hike, our legs were positively cramping and breaking apart. However, given that we reached the top on a clear sunny day, we were treated to a really fantastic view of the city.
Casa Musee Gaudi, which sits atop Park Guell, was up next. After you thought you have had enough of stairs for the first day of the trip, we came to realize that this famous museum sits upon yet another irritating hill. Although the climb up was torturous, the magnificent sunset took away most of the pain ;)
This park was filled with many of Gaudi's works, including his famous lizard. For what it was famous for, I also have no idea, because I really do not see anything impressive in it =P Gaudi was basically famous for his different style in the architecture field, as can be seen in the background. Pretty curvy~ (This sounds pretty like my AEP lesson in the past heh =P)
Last stop for the day before we retire for the evening was yet another one of Gaudi's architecture, but this time, its within the main city. Once again, its one of those curvy architecture, but Viv commented that it actually looked more like a rib cage.
19/12: Barcelona
Finally felt awake on this trip after having a good night rest, despite the rest of the gang complaining that some Brits were making way too much noise in the middle of the night. The first stop of the day was: Picasso Museum! But to begin with I have absolutely no intention of going in, because I have never really been a fan of his. Sometimes I feel that his works are way to simple, and I really do wonder how they became famous at all.
Yah, anyway, that's Viv and me at the entrance of the Museum. We continued down the street to the Barri Gotic Catedral. Since it was a Sunday, it was positively swarming with people. To make things worse, we realised that other than the impressive architecture from the outside, there was really nothing much to see within.
After that, we headed to the city center for 2 purposes. For one, to take a look at Gaudi designed buildings, and for two, to shop! (Obviously that of you who know me well enough would know that the second point dun apply to me =P)
Final stop for the day, or so we think, was yet another hill. However, this is one which could not be missed, as that's where the Olympics Stadium for Barcelona 1992 is. It was a tiring climb as we boarded a wrong bus which headed downhill rather than up, but since we reached the top just as the sun setted, Raymond and me had a field day with our cameras!
This photo was taken just as the sun set over the mountains. The structure is partially a radio station and partially the torch holder during the Barcelona 1992 Olympics. We haven't figured out what the rest of the pipes does though.
This is one out of the many funky photographs which we took. One good thing with travelling with Viv, Marv, Raymond, Fidel, Eunice and Boon was that, we love taking photographs with these funny poses. Hence, it was really a trip with a bumper harvest of really nice group taken photographs.
Raymond decided to add another destination to our itinerary before dinner: Port Vell. This side trip was ended up as another phototaking expedition, as there weren't much to see. Nevertheless, the harbourfront was quite a spectacular sight at night, and this was definitely a worthwhile trip.
Dinner that evening was at Restaurant 7 Portes (highly recommended!). We were treated to Spanish cusine at its very best. Most of us had Paella, which was a mixture of chicken and seafood with rice, served on a huge platter. With that, our Barcelona trip more or less ended. we returned to our hostel, collected our bagguage and boarded a overnight train, bound for Madrid.
20/12: The Capital of Spain: Madrid
Arrived in a slightly colder Madrid, and the first face that I saw was SP's when I stepped into the hostel =P We left our backpacks in the kitchen of the hostel, and we are off to explore the city. We decided to follow Lonely Planet's walking tour of the city, and head down towards Real Madrid's stadium.
We pass by several monuments along the way, but the one which I suppose we loved the most was this one. Ok, I have no idea what this is by the way.
They had a Science and Technology Museum, but non of us were really interested. We were more interested in enjoying the sun and the clear blue sky which continued to follow us everywhere ;)
We finally arrived at Real Madrid's stadium after the long morning walk =P But it was well worth the excursion, because even after being in the UK for 2 years odd, the first stadium which I stepped foot in is where the likes of Figo, Beckham and Owen dwells ;) Anyway its Viv again and me at the VIP stands in the photo.
We ended the day early, as most of us did not have a good rest on the train. However, the dinner place we went to was really bad, and most of us had our food swimming in a pool of oil. Alright, no more sucky food from today onwards.
21/12: Madrid
Last day in Madrid! Actually, we are running a little short of ideas on whereabouts to go, but Raymond and Fidel have it all planned out! We had a good night sleep, hence breakfast was our next top priority. After last night's disastrous dinner, we were determined to ensure that we do not ill-treat our tummies today!
First stop was Plaza Mayor. This is Madrid's most famous square. We found this interesting shop which sold loads of souvenirs. (Those of you who got something for Xmas, it probably came from this shop heh =PpP)
More shopping up next! We went back to Sol and treked the other way along the district, where the final destination would be Palacio Real, the Royal Palace of Madrid. These, we wandered around amongst the terraces, statues, fountains and hedge mazes. We did not enter the Palace though.
This photo was taken at the entrance to the garden of the Palace.
以下这张照片是否很有“秋天的童话”的感觉？Viv and Marvin thought it to be, and they both took photographs with the same pose.
The group photo was really well taken! Someone said something about it being layered, hence it has a 3-D effect ;)
Anyway, after the palace, we went back down to Gran Via, and surprisingly, the lot of us weren't distracted by the many Zaras and the likes peppered along the way. Haha, backtracking, Gran Via is a Haussmannesque Boulevard that was slammed through the tumbledown slums north of Sol in 1911, and today, its a hot shopping district.
We continued walking till we reached the Parque Del Buen Retiro, which basically meant the Park for the Retired. It reminded us of our dear old Hyde Park, but with the exception in that there was a monument attributed to MTO Alfonso XII in the middle of the lake.
One final stop for the day: Back to Plaza Mayor for dinner. The restaurant we went to was a highly recommended eating spot by the local tourist information person, hence we had been really looking forward to a proper, piping hot (non-oily) dinner. despite the relatively steep cost of the food, the service, the gourmet served and the atmosphere more than made up for it. 一个字： Estupendo! ;)
Raymond and me wanted to take nightshots of the city, and the whole gang agreed to accompany us (you're the best pple ;) ) Yah, anyway, the photograph below was the largest, and most prominent roundabout at the city centre's center.
22/12: Madrid to Alicante
Wahaha, we woke up to yet another bright and sunny day. We headed down to Estadio Torros (Bull fighting stadium). There wasn't a match for us today, as the next match (which was to be the madrid's finals) would be on Boxing Day. But we did have the chance to enter the museum to have a look at the history of Madrid's bullfighting.
That marks the end of tour de Madrid. We boarded a coach bound for Alicante after that visit. It was a pretty uneventful 6 hour bus ride, and sleeping turned out to be the best entertainment for a few of us =P
We arrived in Alicante pretty late at night at about 8, and we moved our stuff into the hotel before heading out to find dinner. KFC turned out to be the best option, and we had like buckets of chicken. That's when we really experienced the eating powers of Fidel.
Headed down for the harbour after dinner for night shots! (This really sounds more like a photography expedition than a Spain trip haha). Yah, anyway thats the Alicante castle atop the hill in the background.
23/12: Alicante, the sunny end to a wonderful Sojourn
The night was cold, but that definitely did not dampen our spirits as we awaken to a bright sunny day (again!) Breakfast was just a street away, as we got to the 'marketplace' near our hostel. The food was good, the caffe was good, and the weather was good! What more could we ask for to end of this fantastic trip?
After breakfast, we went down to the beach. The sand was really soft, and since the tempting weather seduced Marvin, Hanwen and Raymond into stripping (partially) for a brief sunbathe ;)
With such a great backdrop setting, yet another Boyband photograph was taken at the beach~
Luckily, we do not have to climb this time to get to the castle, as this hill looks a lot more intimidating that the hills at Barcelona. There was a lift to get us right up to the top, and no pain was involved!
We found this really huge sundial, which we didn't really know how it works, cos the shadow was cast at a different time as that shown on my watch. And I mean way off. Could it be that there was a different way of keeping time in the past? Not really possible right?
The next few photos were all taken atop the highest point on the castle. Actually, there wasn't much educational value in the castle as compared to those you find in England, but the view was so fantastic that you could not help but feel relaxed. Really, all the HCNite stuff, schoolwork etc just flew by me while I was up there. It was a really different feeling ;)
Me and Eunice with a postcard view of the Mediterranean Sea in the background.
Me, Marv and Viv standing on one of the turrents trutting out of the castles, overlooking both the sea and part of the city in the background.
We didn't really have had enough of the time we spent atop the castle, but the lack of it finally forced us to decend back to earth. There, we lingered still, and we took (yet) another poser photograph with this erm, unknown structure.
When we finally managed to leave the beauty behind, and returned to the city center, we were both hot, hungry and thirsty. Solution? Ice-cream! The cafe we went to sold nothing but Ice-Cream, so you can imagine how the standard of the good stuff they sold would be like. What we weren't exepecting was the presentation and the proportions of what was served to us!
Alright, revert back to a bit of Chinese here: 天下无不散之宴席. For those who do not appreciate chinese, all good things must come to an end haha... Ya, anyway our time in sunny Spain is ending, and I have to say, there wasn't a point in the 6 days when I regretted a single bit. Vivian, Eunice, Fidel, Raymond, Hanwen and Marvin, you guys were great, and I am really looking forward to another chance to travel with you again ;) (Please do catch the hint!)
The whole trip was as beautiful as this sunset, and I think most of the moments, may it be happy, hilarious, crazy, embarrassing or pure madness, would always remain with me. If I do, this blog would remind me not to ;)
~Joseph, 27th December 2004
